Thermally insulated food container and audio player system

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a combination of thermally insulated food container and audio player. The thermally insulated food container of the present invention comprises a thermally insulated floor section, a thermally insulated wall section, and a thermally insulated lid attached to the wall section. The invention also contains an audio player mounted on the lid, the floor, or the wall section in a manner such that a prerecorded sound is played when the lid is opened and the prerecorded sound does not play when the lid is closed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a system combining a thermally insulated food container and an audio player. The thermally insulated food container of the present invention contains a thermally insulated floor section, a thermally insulated wall section, and a thermally insulated lid attached to the wall section. The invention also contains an audio player mounted on the lid, the floor, or the wall section in a manner such that a prerecorded sound is played when the lid is opened and no prerecorded sound plays when the lid is closed.

[0003] 2. Description of The Prior Art

[0004] Prior art thermally insulated containers with audio systems are relatively large, heavy, and complex products. Such prior art systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,822 to Leonovich and U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,853 to Johnson. The system disclosed in Johnson comprises a manual system control panel containing numerous manual controls. The system disclosed in Leonovich also comprises a conventional control panel with numerous manual controls, such as knobs and/or buttons. These controls require circuitry which adds to the complexity, weight, and expense of these systems.

[0005] The present invention alleviates the problems of the prior art by providing a system combining a thermally insulated food container and an audio player which does not comprise the controls of prior art systems. In the present invention, manual controls are not needed to turn the audio system on or off because the audio system turns on and off automatically, based upon the position of the lid. The present invention provides the ability to manufacture a combination thermally insulated container and audio player system which is lighter, smaller, and less expensive than prior art systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention is directed toward a system comprising a thermally insulated food container and an audio player mounted in or on the thermally insulated food container such that the audio player can automatically play a prerecorded sound when the lid of the food container is opened and the audio player plays no prerecorded sound when the lid of the container is closed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0007]FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a first embodiment of the present invention with the lid in a first position.

[0008]FIG. 2 is a top view of a first embodiment of the present invention with the lid in a second position.

[0009]FIG. 3 is a side view of a second embodiment of the present invention with the lid in the second position.

[0010]FIG. 4 is side cross sectional view of one embodiment of the lid and audio player of the present invention.

[0011]FIG. 5 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the audio player of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a thermally insulated floor section 10, as shown in FIG. 1. In a preferred embodiment, the floor section is rectangular, as shown in FIG. 1. The invention further comprises a thermally insulated wall section 12 attached to the floor section to define an internal volume, as shown in FIGS. 1-3.

[0013] A thermally insulated lid 14 is attached to the wall sections such that the lid can be positioned in a first or closed position to close the internal volume as shown in FIGS. 1-3. In one preferred embodiment, the lid is hingedly attached to the wall section by one or more hinges 16, as shown in FIG. 3. Additionally, the lid can be positioned in a second or opened position to expose the internal volume to ambient light conditions as shown in FIGS. 2-3. In another embodiment, the lid comprises one or more handles 11, as shown in FIGS. 1-3. The lid comprises an inner surface 13 and an outer surface 15, as shown in FIGS. 1-3.

[0014] In one preferred embodiment, the wall section, the lid, and the floor are hard sided. In this preferred embodiment, the wall sections may comprise an outer layer 17, an inner layer 19, and an insulating layer 18 located between the outer an inner layers, as shown in FIG. 2. In a preferred embodiment, the outer and inner layers comprise polyethylene and the insulating layer comprises polyurethane. In an alternate embodiment, the wall section, the lid, and the floor are soft sided.

[0015] The invention further comprises an audio player 20 attached to the lid, as shown in FIG. 3. The audio player is configured to automatically play prerecorded sound when the lid is in the second position and to automatically cease playing prerecorded sound when the lid is moved from the second position to the first position. In one preferred embodiment, the audio player is mounted on the inner surface of the lid, as shown in FIG. 3.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the inner surface of the lid comprises a recessed area 22 sized to contain the audio player. In this preferred embodiment, the audio player is mounted in the recessed area, as shown in FIG. 4. In a preferred embodiment, the audio player is battery powered, as shown in FIG. 5. In a preferred embodiment, the battery powered audio player comprises a battery pack 33, as shown in FIG. 5. The battery pack contains one or more batteries having sufficient current and voltage capacity to power the audio player.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the audio player is configured to automatically play prerecorded sound when the lid is in the second position and the audio player is exposed to ambient light. Such an audio player is referred to as a “light activated” audio player. In this preferred embodiment, the audio player may comprise an outer body 30, a programmed sound chip 31, contained within the outer body, a photocell activated switch 32 positioned to face the internal volume of the food container and a battery pack 33 comprising one or more batteries. As shown in FIG. 5, the switch 32 is electrically connected between the battery pack 33 and the sound chip 31. This embodiment is depicted in FIG. 5. Programmed sound chips and photocell activated switches suitable for use in the present invention may be obtained from Zaixing Electronic Co. Ltd. of Guangdong, China.

[0018] The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory. Various changes in the size, shape, and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrative construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A thermally insulated food container and audio player system comprising: a. a thermally insulated floor section; b. a thermally insulated wall section attached to said floor section to define an internal volume; c. a thermally insulated lid attached to said wall section such that the lid can be positioned in a first position to close said internal volume or positioned in a second position to expose said internal volume to ambient light conditions, said lid comprising an inner surface and an outer surface; d. an audio player attached to said lid and configured to automatically play prerecorded sound when said lid is in the second position and to automatically cease playing prerecorded sound when said lid is moved from the second position to the first position.
 2. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 1, wherein the lid is hingedly attached to the wall section.
 3. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 1, wherein the floor section is rectangular.
 4. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 1, wherein the wall section, the lid and the floor are hard sided.
 5. The thermally insulated food container of claim 4, wherein the wall section comprises an outer layer, an inner layer, and an insulating layer between said outer and inner layers.
 6. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 5 wherein the outer and inner layers comprise polyethylene and the insulating layer comprises polyurethane.
 7. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 1, wherein the audio player is mounted on the inner surface of the lid.
 8. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 7 wherein the inner surface of said lid comprises a recessed area sized to contain an audio player and wherein said audio player is mounted in said recessed area.
 9. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 1, wherein the audio player is battery powered.
 10. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 1 wherein the audio player is configured to automatically play prerecorded sound when said lid is in the second position and said audio player is exposed to ambient light.
 11. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 10 wherein said audio player comprises: a. an outer body; b. a programmed sound chip contained within said outer body; c. a battery mounted in said outer body; and d. a photocell activated switch positioned to face said internal volume and electrically connected to said battery and said chip.
 12. A thermally insulated food container and audio player system comprising: a. a thermally insulated floor section; b. a thermally insulated wall section attached to said floor section to define an internal volume; c. a thermally insulated lid attached to said wall section such that the lid can be positioned in a first position to close said internal volume or positioned in a second position to expose said internal volume to ambient light conditions, said lid comprising an inner surface and an outer surface; d. a light activated audio player mounted on the inner surface of said lid and configured to automatically play prerecorded sound when said lid is in the second position in the presence of ambient light, and to automatically cease playing prerecorded sound when said lid is moved from the second position to the first position.
 13. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 12, wherein the lid is hingedly attached to the wall section.
 14. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 12, wherein the wall section, the lid and the floor are hard sided.
 15. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 12 wherein the inner surface of said lid comprises a recessed area sized to contain an audio player and wherein said audio player is mounted in said recessed area.
 16. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 12 wherein said audio player comprises: a. an outer body; b. a programmed sound chip contained within said outer body; c. a battery mounted in said outer body; and d. a photocell activated switch positioned to face said internal volume and electrically connected to said battery and said chip.
 17. A thermally insulated food container and audio player system comprising: a. a thermally insulated floor section; b. a thermally insulated wall section attached to said floor section to define an internal volume; c. a thermally insulated lid hingedly attached to said wall section such that the lid can be positioned in a first position to close said internal volume or positioned in a second position to expose said internal volume to ambient light conditions said lid comprising an inner surface and an outer surface; d. an audio player mounted on the inner surface of said lid and configured to automatically play prerecorded sound when said lid is in the second position and to automatically cease playing prerecorded sound when said lid is moved from the second position to the first position.
 18. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 17 wherein the inner surface of said lid comprises a recessed area sized to contain an audio player and wherein said audio player is mounted in said recessed area.
 19. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 17, wherein the audio player is battery powered.
 20. The thermally insulated food container and audio player system of claim 17, wherein the floor section is rectangular. 